Drawer closure assembly



May 9, 1950 A. R. MOUNCE DRAWER CLOSURE ASSEMBLY Filed Dec.

. U 5 W 5 8 W H m m l m 4 M 6m 0 3 2 w E U 5 5 w 32 z W H 7 u 5 II n 6 I 2 a i z Hm m ,..m w a wmwv W; \u IL P 5% R w.

H is Attorney m 4 F MT M W 7 m W/ m 3 2 F 0 mm gasket under. pressure.

Patented May 9, 1950 DRAWER CLO SURE ASSEMBLY Alfred R. Mounce; Fort Wayne, I'nd.,v assignor to General Electric Eompa'ny, a corporation oi New York Application-December 18, 1-948, serial N-oi 66,033

(Cl. 312--'I50 My invention relates to storage cabinets and the like and particularly to such cabinets which are! providedwith drawers and sealed closures for the drawer openings.

It is sometimes. necessary to provide a seal about the. drawer openings in storage cabinets and the-like For exam.p1e when articles to be refrigerated are stored in drawers it is necessary thatasuitable gasket. or other seal be provided about the drawer opening to minimize leakage of heat intothe refrigerated space It is a common practice to provide a resilient gasket of rubber or othersiutable material about the drawer opening in a position such that it is pressed between the. drawer closure and" the storage structure. in order to secure an. adequate seal by means of a resilient gasket it is. necessary to maintain the On hinged doors, such asthose. provided on. household refrigerator cabinets, a single latch with a suitable compressing mechanism is commonly provided to secure the required gasket pressure; however; when the entire. closure member can move bodily toward and away from the cabinet, as in the case of drawer closures, it is difficult to secure an adequate seal. Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a storage. cabinet Orth'e like having an improved drawer and; closure for the drawer opening which will maintain the closure member in contact with the drawer opening on all sides thereoi. v

It is another object of'my invention to provide a storage cabinet having a drawer and an improved closure member for. the drawer opening which maybe latchedby a single element at one side oi the closure member andwill provide s'u'f floilent pressure-on a door gasket aboutthe' openmg to secure adequate sealing.

Further objects; and advantages of my inventi'on will become apparent as the following description proceeds"; and the features of novelty which. characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularitythe claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention reference may behad to the accompanyingdrawrug in which Fig. I is'a sectional elevational view of a-portion of -a' storage cabinet provided with-a drawer and closureassembly embodying my in:- vent'iony' Fig. 2- is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 2 4" of Fig; 1 Fig. 3: is a view similar to Fig; I, with the drawer closure shownits open. position; and dis a view similar to Figs. I and dor theiower portion of the drawer. and. structure showing the drawer partially withdrawn from the cabinet The cabinet illustrated in Fig; 1 comprises a sheet metal structure including an outer metal casing 10 and an inner metal liner H spaced apart to provide an intermediate space for the usual thermal insulation and having aninsiilaiting breaker strip 52 extending between the case andliner to close the space 'therebetween along the edges of the cabinet structure, the breaker strip ['2 as shown. being that about a drawer opening [3. The opening [3 provides communication with a compartment I' l within which is mounted a sliding storage receptacle. or drawer 15 having slide members [6 for engaging guides (not shown) mounted in any suitable manner on the compartment walls. A second drawer I! having a guide [8 is mounted inthe upper portion. of the compartment 4. The drawer opening 13 is sealed when the drawers are within the compartmentsby a door or closuremember is having a resilient gasket 20 oirubber or similar material secured thereto for engagement with the breaker strip I2 aboutthe drawer opening. The closure member is supported on a bracket -21. welded. or otherwise suitably secured to the drawer 15.. For purposes later to be described, the member is pivotaliy mounted on the drawer by bolts 22 on opposite sides of the drawer, only one of these bolts being. visible in the drawing. As shown in detail in Fig. 2, the bolt 2.2 passes through two collars or bushings 23 and 24 mounted in the bracket 2! and a bracket 25- respectively, the bracket 25 being welded. or otherwise. secured to the closure'member it and the collars 23' and 24. beingrotatable with respect to the bolt 22 and each other so that the member It may pivot freely with respect to the drawer l5; The bolt 22 is provided with a nut 26, a washer 21, anda lockwasher 28. In Fig. 2 aportionof the front wall of the drawer 15 is indicated at 2:9.

The closure member it comprises an outer sheet. metal cover 3:11 and an inner sheet or liner 3t secured together about: their peripheries and spaced apart by a portion of the gasket- 20 to minimize leakage of heat from the member 30 to the memberiil. A handle 3-2 is. provided for moving the drawer, and a push button 33- is provided toactuate a latch. mechanism. 3 and withdraw a latchbolt 35: so. that the closure member is releasediirom a retaining catch .36 mounted onthe cabinet.

When the closure; member I9, is latched in position, as shown Fig. l. the gasket re maintainedineontaet with the breaker strip it! entirely aroundJt-he openingl3 the'forceof tension. springs 35! near. the two edges the drawer and. connected; between bracketsqat. on

the drawer I5 and lugs 39 on the member l9 plus the horizontal component of force exerted by the latch bolt. The springs 31, only one of which can be seen in the drawing, bias the member 19 in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot 22 and when the drawer is in its closed position the springs 31 are stressed and hold the lower edge of the gasket 2|] under pressure; the force of the springs acting about the pivot 22 and against the catch 36 urges the drawer into the cabinet. The spacing of the closure member 19 and the breaker strip 2-! when the bolt 35 is in engagement with the catch 36 is such that the compression of the gasket 20 along its top edge is substantially the same as that along its bottom edge, as determined by the pressure of the springs 31 and the adjustment of the catch. Thus the entire gasket is maintained under substantially equal pressure and an effective seal of the drawer opening is secured. When the catch is released the closure member l9 rotates in a counterclockwise direction about the bolt 22 until an arm i engages a downwardly turned rear por tion of a stop member 4H secured to the bottom of the drawer l5. This prevents direct contact between the bottom of the drawer and the closure member [9 so that there is no impact between these members which might result. in damage to the finish of the drawer and closure member. In a similar manner, the extent of clockwise rotation of the member I9 is limited by a downwardly turned portion of the stop M at the forward end thereof. This decreases the probability of impacts between the upper drawer I! and the closure member l9 and also limits the stress on the spring 31. When the closure member I9 is drawn for ward it moves from the position of Fig. 3 to a position such as that shown in Fig. 4 in which the drawer is accessible. Also, in this position the drawer I! may, of course, be moved outwardly L and its contents made accessible.

During the operation of the drawer assembly the handle 32 is gripped and the button 33 pressed when the drawer is in the position shown in Fig. 1. This releases the catch whereupon the drawer may be moved forwardly, the closure member rotating until the arm 49 hits the rear portion of the stop 4 I. This tilting movement whi'h facilitates the adequate sealing of the gasket by allowing the required functioning of the spring 37 also provides increased room for access to the drawer I since the upper end of the closure slopes forwardly. The drawer may be returned to its closed position merely by pushing the member id forwardly until the bolt 35 is fixed past the catch 36 and latches in the usual manner of operation of spring bolts.

My closure member or door sealing arrangement as described provides a simple and efiective seal for sliding storage assemblies and avoids the necessity of providing special devices on the sliding guides, or double latches, or similar arrangements for securing gasket pressure.

While I have shown my invention as applied to a refrigerated storage cabinet, other applications will readily be apparent to those skilled in the art. I do not, therefore, desire my invention to be limited to the particular structure illustrated and described, and I intend by the appended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to Secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A storage cabinet or the like having a compartment therein and an opening providing access to said compartment. a drawer mounted on said cabinet for movement into and out of said compartment through said opening, a closure member for said opening pivotally mounted on said drawer on a transverse axis intermediate the edges of the opening and being tiltable about said axis with respect to said drawer, means for biasing said closure member about said axis toward said drawer on one side of said axis whereby on movement of said drawer toward its position within said compartment said closure member first contacts said cabinet adjacent the side of said opening on said side of said axis and is tilted about said axis on further movement of said drawer, and means for latching said closure member in position on said cabinet to close said opening and to retain said member in its tilted position in opposit on to said biasing means.

2. A storage cabinet or the like having a compartment therein and an opening providing access to said compartment, a drawer mounted on said cabinet for movement into and out of said compartment through said opening, a closure member for said opening pivotally mounted on said drawer on a transverse axis intermediate the edges of the opening and being tiltable about said axis with respect to said drawer, means for biasing said closure member about said axis toward said drawer on one side of said axis whereby on movement of said drawer toward its position within said compartment said closure member first contacts said cabinet adjacent the side of said opening on said side of said axis and is tilted about said axis on further movement of said drawer, and latching mechanism including complementary elements on said closure member and cabinet and positioned on the other side of said axis and remote therefrom for retaining said drawer within said cabinet and for maintaining said closure member in position on said cabinet to close said opening.

3. A storage cabinet or the like having a compartment therein and an opening providing access to said compartment, a drawer mounted on said cabinet for movement into and out of said compartment through said opening, a closure member for said opening pivotally mounted on said drawer on a transverse axis intermediate the edges of the opening and being tiltable about said axis with respect to said drawer, a spring engaging said drawer and said closure member for biasing said closure member about said axis toward said drawer on one side of said axis whereby on movement of said drawer toward its position within said compartment said closure member first contacts said cabinet adjacent the side of said opening on said side of said axis and is tilted about said axis on further movement of said drawer, and latching mechanism including complementary elements on said closure member and cabinet and positioned on the other side of said axis and remote therefrom for retaining said drawer within said cabinet and for maintaining said closure member in position on said cabinet to close said opening.

4. A storage cabinet or the like having a compartment therein and an opening providing access to said compartment, a drawer mounted on said cabinet for movementinto and out of said compartment through said opening, a closure member for said opening pivotally mounted on said drawer on a transverse axis intermediate the edges of the opening and being tiltable about said axis with respect to said drawer, stops for limiting the extent of tilting movement of said closure member in both directions to prevent striking of said member against said drawer in the open position thereof, means for biasing said closure member about said axis toward said drawer on one side of said axis whereby on movement of said drawer toward its position within said compartment said closure member first contacts said cabinet adjacent the side of said opening on said side of said axis and is tilted about said axis on further movement of said drawer, and means for latching said closure member in position on said cabinet to close said opening and to retain said member in its tilted position in opposition to said biasing means.

5. A storage cabinet or the like having a compartment therein and an opening providing access to said compartment, a drawer mounted on said cabinet for movement into and out of said compartment through said opening, a closure member for said opening pivotally mounted on said drawer on a transverse axis intermediate the edges of the opening and being tiltable about said axis with respect to said drawer, a tension spring connected between said drawer and said member on the bottom side of said drawer to bias said member about said axis toward the bottom of said drawer whereby on moving said drawer toward its position within said compartment said member first contacts said cabinet on the bottom side of said opening and is tilted about said axis to approach the top side of said opening, and latching mechanism including complementary elements on said closure member and cabinet and positioned on the upper side of said closure member and remote from said axis for retaining said drawer within said cabinet and for maintaining said closure member in position on said cabinet to close said opening.

6. A storage cabinet or the like having a wall member forming a compartment and provided with an opening affording access to said compartment, a drawer mounted on said cabinet for movement into and out of said compartment, a. closure member for said opening pivotally mounted on said drawer on a transverse axis intermediate the edges of the opening and being tiltable about said axis with respect to said drawer, a resilient gasket mounted on one of said members for sealing said opening in the closed position of said drawer, means for urging said closure member about said axis toward said drawer on one side of said axis whereby on movement of said drawer toward its position within said compartment said gasket is first pressed between said members along the side of said openin on said side of axis and said closure member is tilted about said axis on further movement of said drawer to press the entire gasket into engagement with both members, and means for latching said members together in the closed position of said drawer to retain said gasket in sealing engagement with both said members.

ALFRED R. MOUNCE.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Brainard Dec. 12, 1933 Number 

